News

Careful feeding rearing heifers can boost results

Published 28 May 10

Dairy farmers could save £1000s by improving their heifer
rearing system, according to experts speaking at a series of recent
DairyCo meetings across the South West.

With careful feeding heifers can calve at 22-24 months instead
of the typical 33 months, resulting in fewer calving difficulties,
lower mortality over five years and significantly higher milk
yields over the same time, says Chris Coxon, South West extension
officer at DairyCo.

"A lot of people say they can't calve their heifers at two years
old because they are not big enough - but it is all down to feeding
them right. You need to get the calves off to a good start and feed
them properly when young, as that is when the feed conversion
efficiencies are at their best. Feed conversion is very high at
1.25:1 in early life and we need to be making the most of
that."

Newborn calves should receive 10% of their bodyweight in
colostrum in the first 24 hours, with half of that in their first
six hours of life, says Mr Coxon. For a 40kg calf that equates to
two litres of milk, or 15 minutes of suckling, ideally in the first
two hours of life. "Only 40% of calves achieve this unaided, so
farmers need to be there to assist both cow and calf."

When feeding milk powder farmers should use a teat system to
start with, and opt for an enhanced growth, high quality powder.
This provides 18% fat and 26% protein instead a typical formula of
20% of each. It should be diluted at a rate of 15% rather than 10%,
and with daily intakes of six litres the calf should consume 900g
of powder per day, compared to just 500g on a normal system.
Combined with ad-lib creep feed, calves can be expected to put on
0.8kg of weight per day over the first six weeks - 0.2kg/day more
than average.

"It is also really important to provide good quality 18% protein
concentrate and fresh water from day one, to help rumen
development," says Mr Coxon. "Roughage, preferably in the form of
straw, should be provided in racks to minimise intakes of
contaminated feed."

Although an enhanced feeding regime costs more in the short
term, bringing heifers into heat earlier and calving at 24 months
means they start milking and paying back their rearing costs more
quickly. Rearing heifers to calve at 33 months in a very low input
autumn-calving herd costs a net average £1211 per head, while
heifers calving at 22 months on a high input system have already
paid back their rearing costs by £68 after a further 11
months have passed, he adds.

In addition, younger calving heifers tend to have fewer calving
difficulties, live longer and produce more milk. A five-year study
by DairyCo showed that only 17% of those calving at 22-23 months,
at a pre-calving weight of 591kg, required calving assistance,
compared to 67% of those calving at 32-26 months.

"Ideally, producers should aim to bull heifers when they are 70%
grown at the withers and 50-60% of their adult weight," says Mr
Coxon. "That way they will be easier to get into calf, and be
nicely grown but not overweight by the time they calve. Older,
fatter heifers can suffer from fertility and calving difficulties,
as well as metabolic problems after calving."

Some 86% of the younger calving group were still alive at five
years of age, against just 33% of the older group, he adds. "The
younger cows spent 48% of their first five years in milk, resulting
in a five-year yield of 25,031 litres. That compared to 18% of the
older group, which had a five-year yield of just 8029 litres. The
more time that a cow spends in milk, the better the income for the
business. Calving heifers younger also has clear health and welfare
benefits, which has to be good for the entire industry."

For more information on heifer rearing, order your free
feeding+ manual from DairyCo by calling
024 76 478702or visit www.dairyco.org.uk.